Collaborative Research: Controls of ecosystem development during rapid environmental change: Yellowstone in the late-glacial and early-Holocene periods

合作研究：环境快速变化期间生态系统发展的控制：晚冰期和早全新世时期的黄石公园

• 批准号: 0818467
• 负责人: Cathy Whitlock
• 金额: $ 26万
• 依托单位: Montana State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-10-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0818467&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Controls; ecosystem; development

The period between the late-Pleistocene glacial maximum and the early-Holocene thermal maximum (ca. 21,000 to 7,000 years ago) was a time of dramatic environmental change and biotic adjustments. The creation of new ecosystems in deglaciated regions was governed by the rate of ice recession, the nature of postglacial climate change, the characteristics of new landscapes, and the life-history traits of the biologic colonizers.The Yellowstone region supported the largest independent ice field in the western U.S., and ice recession after 17 cal ka set in motion a sequence of poorly-documented biologic events that ultimately led to the present-day terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This examination of the late-glacial and early-Holocene periods in the Yellowstone region poses the following questions: What are the primary controls of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem development on newly created landscapes? Specifically, how are past biota influenced by intrinsic biological constraints, landscape evolution, and subregional climate differences during a period of dramatic climate change? The study tests hypotheses concerning the importance of climatic and nonclimatic drivers in ecosystem development through an examination of lake-sediment records from sites that (1) lie along the path of ice recession, (2) span a variety of substrates, and (3) are situated within summer-wet and summer-dry precipitation regimes. Yellowstone is an ideal region to examine the development and structuring of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, because (1) the climate history of the western US is reasonably well understood from prior data syntheses and paleoclimate model simulations; (2) a well-documented glacial history of the Yellowstone region offers independent information on local environmental change; (3) different substrates and precipitation regimes shape modern ecosystem distributions and likely have in the past as well; and (4) previous paleoecologic findings motivate more-nuanced research questions that can be addressed with the acquisition of new high-resolution records.Intellectual Merit of the Research: Understanding the biotic consequences of climatic change is a major challenge in Earth systems research and identified as a high priority in recent international and US climate change assessments. The proposed study builds on existing knowledge of Yellowstone's past in an effort to better understand the resilience of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to environmental change, including abrupt climate events of the magnitude projected in the future. This project adopts a stratified sampling approach that is not possible in most locations where paleobiotic data are sparse, and the information gained will help answer basic biologic questions about the importance of abiotic and biotic variables in modulating the effects of climate change on species, communities, and ecosystems. The resulting synthesis will be a critical step in bridging the gap between current understanding of ecological processes on short time scales and evidence of dramatic change preserved in paleoecologic data on long time scales.Broader Impacts of the Research lie in its contribution to ongoing efforts that better inform the public, land and resource managers, and students about the importance of environmental history in the national parks, including an understanding of past climate change and ecosystem sensitivity. This project in particular, extends outreach activities in a number of ways, among them regularly updated web-disseminated information by the National Park Service on Yellowstone's history; education and training activities for Park staff on cutting-edge paleoclimate research; incorporation of Yellowstone findings in Park-directed K-12 curricula and university coursework; publication in popular scientific magazines; and content for a new museum exhibit on Yellowstone. The project also continues the PIs' commitment to train and educate the next generation of diverse scientists and to contribute to ongoing efforts to build multidisciplinary paleoclimate datasets for use by researchers, land managers, educators, and the public.

晚更新世冰川最大期和早全新世热最大期之间的时期（约1000年）。21，000至7，000年前）是一个剧烈的环境变化和生物调整的时期。冰川消退地区新生态系统的形成受冰川消退的速度、冰后期气候变化的性质、新景观的特征以及生物殖民者的生活史特征的控制。黄石地区支撑着美国西部最大的独立冰原，17 calka后的冰川衰退引发了一系列记录不多的生物事件，最终导致了今天的陆地和水生生态系统。黄石地区晚冰期和全新世早期的这一研究提出了以下问题：陆地和水生生态系统发展对新创建的景观的主要控制是什么？具体而言，如何影响过去的生物区系的内在生物的限制，景观演变，和次区域的气候差异在一个时期的剧烈气候变化？该研究通过对来自以下地点的湖泊沉积物记录的检查来检验关于气候和非气候驱动因素在生态系统发展中的重要性的假设：（1）位于冰退路径的沿着，（2）跨越各种基质，（3）位于夏季潮湿和夏季干燥的降水制度内。 黄石公园是研究陆地和水生生态系统的发展和结构的理想地区，因为（1）美国西部的气候历史从以前的数据合成和古气候模型模拟中得到了合理的理解;（2）黄石地区有据可查的冰川历史提供了当地环境变化的独立信息;（3）不同的基质和降水状况塑造了现代生态系统的分布，过去也可能如此;和（4）以前的古生态学发现激发了更微妙的研究问题，这些问题可以通过获得新的高-研究的智力价值：了解气候变化的生物后果是地球系统研究的一个主要挑战，并在最近的国际和美国气候变化评估中被确定为一个高度优先事项。这项拟议的研究建立在黄石公园过去的现有知识基础上，旨在更好地了解陆地和水生生态系统对环境变化的适应能力，包括预测未来规模的突发气候事件。该项目采用分层抽样方法，这在大多数古生物数据稀少的地方是不可能的，所获得的信息将有助于回答关于非生物和生物变量在调节气候变化对物种，群落和生态系统的影响方面的重要性的基本生物学问题。由此产生的综合将是一个关键的一步，弥合差距之间的差距，目前的理解生态过程的短时间尺度和证据的戏剧性变化保存在古生态数据的长时间scales.Broader影响的研究在于其贡献正在进行的努力，更好地告知公众，土地和资源管理人员，和学生的重要性，环境历史的国家公园，包括对过去气候变化和生态系统敏感性的了解。特别是该项目以多种方式扩大了外联活动，其中包括国家公园服务处定期更新关于黄石历史的网络传播信息;为公园工作人员开展关于最新古气候研究的教育和培训活动;将黄石的研究结果纳入公园指导的K-12课程和大学课程;在大众科学杂志上发表文章;并满足于黄石公园的新博物馆展览。该项目还延续了PI的承诺，即培训和教育下一代多样化的科学家，并为正在进行的建立多学科古气候数据集的努力做出贡献，供研究人员，土地管理人员，教育工作者和公众使用。